Africa Western and Central: Travel services (% of commercial service exports)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, Africa Western and Central's travel services (% of commercial service exports) fell 7.6 percentage points on 2023 (from 22.85% to 15.25%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was +0.37 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 6.78 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.2 standard deviations below that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 32.21 percentage points in 1986 and the biggest yearly fall was 19.93 percentage points in 1987. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2015 to 2024 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 21% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

See how every economy compares in the full ranking.

What this measures

Travel services cover goods and services for own use or to give away acquired from an economy by nonresidents during visits to that economy, or acquired from other economies by residents during visits to these other economies. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of service exports which are commercial services provided by residents to non-residents.

Limitations: Balance of payments statistics, the main source of information on international trade in services, have many weaknesses. Disaggregation of important components may be limited and varies considerably across countries. There are inconsistencies in the methods used to report items. And the recording of major flows as net items is common (for example, insurance transactions are often recorded as premiums less claims). These factors contribute to a downward bias in the value of the service trade reported in the balance of payments. Efforts are being made to improve the coverage, quality, and consistency of these data.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.

All 48 values

Travel services (% of commercial service exports) in nearby economies

• Afghanistan — 10.8% (2020)
• Algeria — 3.87% (2025)
• Bahrain — 33.49% (2025)
• Djibouti — 6.16% (2024)
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 54.41% (2025)
• Iraq — 72.63% (2025)
• Israel — 3.56% (2025)
• Jordan — 76.7% (2024)
• Kuwait — 17.47% (2025)
• Lebanon

More private sector & trade data for Africa Western and Central

• Merchandise trade (% of GDP) — 43.1% (2025)
• Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$163.34 billion (2025)
• Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$204.1 billion (2025)
• Merchandise imports from economies in the Arab World (% of total merchandise imports) — 7.26% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from high-income economies (% of total merchandise imports) — 53.47% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside region (% of total merchandise imports) — 33.98% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies in East Asia & Pacific (% of total merchandise imports)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Africa Western and Central's travel services (% of commercial service exports)?

15.25% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1977?

It is down 4.31 percentage points from 19.56% in 1977. The highest value was 46.93% in 1986 and the lowest 10.24% in 1979.

Is the latest change in travel services (% of commercial service exports) unusual for Africa Western and Central?

In 2024, Africa Western and Central's travel services (% of commercial service exports) fell 7.6 percentage points on 2023 (from 22.85% to 15.25%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was +0.37 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 6.78 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.2 standard deviations below that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator TX.VAL.TRVL.ZS.WT, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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